racist imagery

Notice anything in this photo? Do you think you’d be able to pick out your shade? Tarte is a cosmetics company, prominent in high-end make-up stores like Sephora and Ulta Beauty. On their website, they boast their dedication to cruelty-free, vegan skincare and cosmetics that are both ecologically friendly and high quality. Tarte has recently made headlines for their controversial new line of Shape Tape Foundation. By glancing at the photo above from the lens of our class, it’s easy to see the issue. The line offers only three to four colors that are appropriate for people of color, but … Read more

Models Sophie Applegarth and Julie Iovenitti dressed up as tennis players Venus and Serena Williams for a Christmas party through the use of blackface. “There is nothing racist about backing [your] favorite sport stars,” Applegarth and Iovenitti said in defense. Later, Applegarth put out a statement saying that they had no intent to be racist when they put these outfits on. Blackface has always been a contested issue in the United States. When these girls decided to smear their body with brown paint, they made the decision to perpetuate black stereotypes dating back to the 19th century. Although they though … Read more

WARNING: extremely offensive, racist language is used while quoting someone else (as well as cursing) A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with a few friends and acquaintances – we were talking, laughing, and having a generally good time. We were sitting in a circle of various couches and chairs surrounding a coffee table. Then, someone at the party (let’s call this person J) got a text from another friend saying that a third friend (we’ll call this person Z) wanted to drive but had been drinking and would not listen to anyone who tried to tell them not … Read more

Recently in the opinions section of a Belgian Newspaper, one article, said to have been submitted from Russian President Vladimir Putin, shows the Obamas depicted as apes. On the picture it says, “First Black President, starts selling weed.” I thought this was a really interesting thing to bring up because it related to the Eberhardt studies that we looked at in class relating Blacks to Apes. Many people make the implicit association of blacks to apes and this cartoon is just reinforcing that stereotype. One person commented on the cartoon saying, “This was in the satire portion of the newspaper, it … Read more

Since I have been in this class, it is amazing to me how many things I see on social media sites that relate to everything we are talking about in class. This week I was browsing my Facebook news feed and I saw two posts, one after another, that completely shocked me. A woman, that goes to Muhlenberg, had a post that explained a recent experience with racism. Her post stated: “So I went to my local grocery store and the lady at the register looked at me and said ‘You’re Chinese aren’t you?’ I replied ‘Yes’ and she said … Read more

The comments are the most interesting part of this gawker post. One commenter said,

“Its not blackface if you are doing a certain person. It is a black face.”

Another said,

“Exactly. Intent is everything here. Black face was racist because it was racist in practice. Dressing up as a black character isn’t racist unless it is offensive and is meant to be racist. Dressing up as a black character you admire isn’t racist, it’s a compliment.

Sadly, yes. I did feel that including Miley Cyrus in the title and tag of this post would garner more attention. Here is one of several thoughtful pieces I’ve seen – not about misguided Miley’s image – but about how the dancers that surrounded her were used “as props.” It also provides a brief history of twerking – a dance I found awkward and mystifying in Miley’s performance. We owe it to twerking to read this. – Posted by Connie http://www.xojane.com/issues/the-origins-of-twerking I doubt Miley grasps what she’s doing. Miley thinks she’s just “turning up” with some “cool” black girls behind … Read more